Stop & Shop Expects May 16 Closing on Purchase of Norkus Foodtown in Point Beach

Stop & Shop expects to close on a deal to buy Norkus Foodtown stores in Point Pleasant Beach, Long Branch, Neptune City, Manalapan and Raintree in Freehold Township on May 16, according to a Stop & Shop official at a Point Beach Borough Council meeting on Tuesday night.

Stop & Shop expects to shut down the Point Beach store on May 16 for less than a week for re-branding, which includes changing signs, painting the interior and re-stocking shelves, said Frank J. Maglio, Director of Real Estate of the New York Metro division of Stop & Shop, outside the meeting.

Stop & Shop was at the council meeting to get permission to not have to comply with the local noise ordinance during the days that work will be ongoing overnight inside the store. The council approved the request.

When asked if the estimated 700 employees at Foodtown in Point Beach and the other locations being sold will still have jobs, Maglio said, "Most of the faces will remain the same. We're happy to have them."

When asked if employees will be laid off and then have to re-apply for their jobs, Maglio said, "Now you're really getting into details. You're really drilling down. That's not my area. I think most people in the store know where they stand."

Mark Norkus, company vice president, had said on March 21 that the tentative sale agreement calls for about 700 employees to be laid off around mid-May, as was stated in a letter mailed to the homes of employees in mid-March, he said.

"That's the notice we're required by law to send out," Norkus had said.

When asked for an estimate of what percentage of employees will be hired back, he said more than 90 percent.

On Tuesday night, Michael Liloia, Norkus Foodtown director of engineering in the Point Beach store, said of the Norkus family, "Jerry, Mark and Steven have been intimately involved in the sale and change-over and they want to see everything continue as a community in Point Beach and they feel it will."

Employees of both Foodtown and Stop & Shop are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW).

When asked if employees at Foodtown sites likely to be sold will still be represented by the same union, Norkus said yes.

When asked why employees will be laid off, Norkus said "because it's a different employer."

Norkus had declined to explain why his company is selling the five locations or any other details, saying he cannot discuss it further because the deal is tentative.

Harvey Whille, president of UFCW Local 1262, had said on March 21 that an attorney for Stop & Shop notified his office about the tentative agreement on March 18.

"It was a complete surprise, and  I've had a longstanding relationship with the Norkus family for many  years," he had said.

He said he and other union officials are trying to gather information on the pending sale and what it means for employees.

"I want the employees to know we'll be there for them every step of the way," he said.

The Norkus Foodtown in Freehold Borough would not be among those sold.